Good News Translation (GNT)

1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will, sent to proclaim the promised life which we have in union with Christ Jesus—

2 To Timothy, my dear son:

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

Thanksgiving and Encouragement

3 I give thanks to God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did. I thank him as I remember you always in my prayers night and day.

4 I remember your tears, and I want to see you very much, so that I may be filled with joy.

5 I remember the sincere faith you have, the kind of faith that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice also had. I am sure that you have it also.

6 For this reason I remind you to keep alive the gift that God gave you when I laid my hands on you.

7 For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control.

8 Do not be ashamed, then, of witnessing for our Lord; neither be ashamed of me, a prisoner for Christ’s sake. Instead, take your part in suffering for the Good News, as God gives you the strength for it.

9 He saved us and called us to be his own people, not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. He gave us this grace by means of Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,

10 but now it has been revealed to us through the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus. He has ended the power of death and through the gospel has revealed immortal life.

11 God has appointed me as an apostle and teacher to proclaim the Good News,

12 and it is for this reason that I suffer these things. But I am still full of confidence, because I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure that he is able to keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me.

13 Hold firmly to the true words that I taught you, as the example for you to follow, and remain in the faith and love that are ours in union with Christ Jesus.

14 Through the power of the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, keep the good things that have been entrusted to you.

15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia, including Phygelus and Hermogenes, has deserted me.

16 May the Lord show mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he cheered me up many times. He was not ashamed that I am in prison,

17 but as soon as he arrived in Rome, he started looking for me until he found me.

18 May the Lord grant him his mercy on that Day! And you know very well how much he did for me in Ephesus.

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A Loyal Soldier of Christ Jesus

1 As for you, my son, be strong through the grace that is ours in union with Christ Jesus.

2 Take the teachings that you heard me proclaim in the presence of many witnesses, and entrust them to reliable people, who will be able to teach others also.

3 Take your part in suffering, as a loyal soldier of Christ Jesus.

4 A soldier on active duty wants to please his commanding officer and so does not get mixed up in the affairs of civilian life.

5 An athlete who runs in a race cannot win the prize unless he obeys the rules.

6 The farmer who has done the hard work should have the first share of the harvest.

7 Think about what I am saying, because the Lord will enable you to understand it all.

8 Remember Jesus Christ, who was raised from death, who was a descendant of David, as is taught in the Good News I preach.

9 Because I preach the Good News, I suffer and I am even chained like a criminal. But the word of God is not in chains,

10 and so I endure everything for the sake of God’s chosen people, in order that they too may obtain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory.

11 This is a true saying:

“If we have died with him,

we shall also live with him.

12 If we continue to endure,

we shall also rule with him.

If we deny him,

he also will deny us.

13 If we are not faithful,

he remains faithful,

because he cannot be false to himself.”

An Approved Worker

14 Remind your people of this, and give them a solemn warning in God’s presence not to fight over words. It does no good, but only ruins the people who listen.

15 Do your best to win full approval in God’s sight, as a worker who is not ashamed of his work, one who correctly teaches the message of God’s truth.

16 Keep away from profane and foolish discussions, which only drive people farther away from God.

17 Such teaching is like an open sore that eats away the flesh. Two men who have taught such things are Hymenaeus and Philetus.

18 They have left the way of truth and are upsetting the faith of some believers by saying that our resurrection has already taken place.

19 But the solid foundation that God has laid cannot be shaken; and on it are written these words: “The Lord knows those who are his” and “Those who say that they belong to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoing.”

20 In a large house there are dishes and bowls of all kinds: some are made of silver and gold, others of wood and clay; some are for special occasions, others for ordinary use.

21 Those who make themselves clean from all those evil things, will be used for special purposes, because they are dedicated and useful to their Master, ready to be used for every good deed.

22 Avoid the passions of youth, and strive for righteousness, faith, love, and peace, together with those who with a pure heart call out to the Lord for help.

23 But keep away from foolish and ignorant arguments; you know that they end up in quarrels.

24 As the Lord’s servant, you must not quarrel. You must be kind toward all, a good and patient teacher,

25 who is gentle as you correct your opponents, for it may be that God will give them the opportunity to repent and come to know the truth.

26 And then they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the Devil, who had caught them and made them obey his will.

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The Last Days

1 Remember that there will be difficult times in the last days.

2 People will be selfish, greedy, boastful, and conceited; they will be insulting, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and irreligious;

3 they will be unkind, merciless, slanderers, violent, and fierce; they will hate the good;

4 they will be treacherous, reckless, and swollen with pride; they will love pleasure rather than God;

5 they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. Keep away from such people.

6 Some of them go into people’s houses and gain control over weak women who are burdened by the guilt of their sins and driven by all kinds of desires,

7 women who are always trying to learn but who can never come to know the truth.

8 As Jannes and Jambres were opposed to Moses, so also these people are opposed to the truth—people whose minds do not function and who are failures in the faith.

9 But they will not get very far, because everyone will see how stupid they are. That is just what happened to Jannes and Jambres.

Last Instructions

10 But you have followed my teaching, my conduct, and my purpose in life; you have observed my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance,

11 my persecutions, and my sufferings. You know all that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra, the terrible persecutions I endured! But the Lord rescued me from them all.

12 Everyone who wants to live a godly life in union with Christ Jesus will be persecuted;

13 and evil persons and impostors will keep on going from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.

14 But as for you, continue in the truths that you were taught and firmly believe. You know who your teachers were,

15 and you remember that ever since you were a child, you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is usefulfor teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living,

17 so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good deed.

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1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and because he is coming to rule as King, I solemnly urge you

2 to preach the message, to insist upon proclaiming it (whether the time is right or not), to convince, reproach, and encourage, as you teach with all patience.

3 The time will come when people will not listen to sound doctrine, but will follow their own desires and will collect for themselves more and more teachers who will tell them what they are itching to hear.

4 They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.

5 But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances; endure suffering, do the work of a preacher of the Good News, and perform your whole duty as a servant of God.

6 As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life.

7 I have done my best in the race, I have run the full distance, and I have kept the faith.

8 And now there is waiting for me the victory prize of being put right with God, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day—and not only to me, but to all those who wait with love for him to appear.

Personal Words

9 Do your best to come to me soon.

10 Demas fell in love with this present world and has deserted me, going off to Thessalonica. Crescens went to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia.

11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he can help me in the work.

12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

13 When you come, bring my coat that I left in Troas with Carpus; bring the books too, and especially the ones made of parchment.

14 Alexander the metalworker did me great harm; the Lord will reward him according to what he has done.

15 Be on your guard against him yourself, because he was violently opposed to our message.

16 No one stood by me the first time I defended myself; all deserted me. May God not count it against them!

17 But the Lord stayed with me and gave me strength, so that I was able to proclaim the full message for all the Gentiles to hear; and I was rescued from being sentenced to death.

18 And the Lord will rescue me from all evil and take me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever! Amen.

Final Greetings

19 I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila and to the family of Onesiphorus.

20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus, because he was sick.

21 Do your best to come before winter.

Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia send their greetings, and so do all the other Christians.

22 The Lord be with your spirit.

God’s grace be with you all.

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1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by order of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope—

2 To Timothy, my true son in the faith:

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

Warnings against False Teaching

3 I want you to stay in Ephesus, just as I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia. Some people there are teaching false doctrines, and you must order them to stop.

4 Tell them to give up those legends and those long lists of ancestors, which only produce arguments; they do not serve God’s plan, which is known by faith.

5 The purpose of this order is to arouse the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a genuine faith.

6 Some people have turned away from these and have lost their way in foolish discussions.

7 They want to be teachers of God’s law, but they do not understand their own words or the matters about which they speak with so much confidence.

8 We know that the Law is good if it is used as it should be used.

9 It must be remembered, of course, that laws are made, not for good people, but for lawbreakers and criminals, for the godless and sinful, for those who are not religious or spiritual, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

10 for the immoral, for sexual perverts, for kidnappers, for those who lie and give false testimony or who do anything else contrary to sound doctrine.

11 That teaching is found in the gospel that was entrusted to me to announce, the Good News from the glorious and blessed God.

Gratitude for God’s Mercy

12 I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength for my work. I thank him for considering me worthy and appointing me to serve him,

13 even though in the past I spoke evil of him and persecuted and insulted him. But God was merciful to me because I did not yet have faith and so did not know what I was doing.

14 And our Lord poured out his abundant grace on me and gave me the faith and love which are ours in union with Christ Jesus.

15 This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them,

16 but God was merciful to me in order that Christ Jesus might show his full patience in dealing with me, the worst of sinners, as an example for all those who would later believe in him and receive eternal life.

17 To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the only God—to him be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

18 Timothy, my child, I entrust to you this command, which is in accordance with the words of prophecy spoken in the past about you. Use those words as weapons in order to fight well,

19 and keep your faith and a clear conscience. Some people have not listened to their conscience and have made a ruin of their faith.

20 Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have punished by handing them over to the power of Satan; this will teach them to stop their blasphemy.

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Church Worship

1 First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people;

2 for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct.

3 This is good and it pleases God our Savior,

4 who wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth.

5 For there is one God, and there is one who brings God and human beings together, the man Christ Jesus,

6 who gave himself to redeem the whole human race. That was the proof at the right time that God wants everyone to be saved,

7 and that is why I was sent as an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles, to proclaim the message of faith and truth. I am not lying; I am telling the truth!

8 In every church service I want the men to pray, men who are dedicated to God and can lift up their hands in prayer without anger or argument.

9 I also want the women to be modest and sensible about their clothes and to dress properly; not with fancy hair styles or with gold ornaments or pearls or expensive dresses,

10 but with good deeds, as is proper for women who claim to be religious.

11 Women should learn in silence and all humility.

12 I do not allow them to teach or to have authority over men; they must keep quiet.

13 For Adam was created first, and then Eve.

14 And it was not Adam who was deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and broke God’s law.

15 But a woman will be saved through having children,if she perseveresin faith and love and holiness, with modesty.

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Leaders in the Church

1 This is a true saying: If a man is eager to be a church leader, he desires an excellent work.

2 A church leader must be without fault; he must have only one wife,be sober, self-controlled, and orderly; he must welcome strangers in his home; he must be able to teach;

3 he must not be a drunkard or a violent man, but gentle and peaceful; he must not love money;

4 he must be able to manage his own family well and make his children obey him with all respect.

5 For if a man does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of the church of God?

6 He must be mature in the faith, so that he will not swell up with pride and be condemned, as the Devil was.

7 He should be a man who is respected by the people outside the church, so that he will not be disgraced and fall into the Devil’s trap.

Helpers in the Church

8 Church helpers must also have a good character and be sincere; they must not drink too much wine or be greedy for money;

9 they should hold to the revealed truth of the faith with a clear conscience.

10 They should be tested first, and then, if they pass the test, they are to serve.

11 Their wivesalso must be of good character and must not gossip; they must be sober and honest in everything.

12 A church helper must have only one wife,and be able to manage his children and family well.

13 Those helpers who do their work well win for themselves a good standing and are able to speak boldly about their faith in Christ Jesus.

The Great Secret

14 As I write this letter to you, I hope to come and see you soon.

15 But if I delay, this letter will let you know how we should conduct ourselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth.

16 No one can deny how great is the secret of our religion:

He appeared in human form,

was shown to be right by the Spirit,

and was seen by angels.

He was preached among the nations,

was believed in throughout the world,

and was taken up to heaven.

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False Teachers

1 The Spirit says clearly that some people will abandon the faith in later times; they will obey lying spirits and follow the teachings of demons.

2 Such teachings are spread by deceitful liars, whose consciences are dead, as if burnt with a hot iron.

3 Such people teach that it is wrong to marry and to eat certain foods. But God created those foods to be eaten, after a prayer of thanks, by those who are believers and have come to know the truth.

4 Everything that God has created is good; nothing is to be rejected, but everything is to be received with a prayer of thanks,

5 because the word of God and the prayer make it acceptable to God.

A Good Servant of Christ Jesus

6 If you give these instructions to the believers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, as you feed yourself spiritually on the words of faith and of the true teaching which you have followed.

7 But keep away from those godless legends, which are not worth telling. Keep yourself in training for a godly life.

8 Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is valuable in every way, because it promises life both for the present and for the future.

9 This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed.

10 We struggleand work hard, because we have placed our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all and especially of those who believe.

11 Give them these instructions and these teachings.

12 Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young, but be an example for the believers in your speech, your conduct, your love, faith, and purity.

13 Until I come, give your time and effort to the public reading of the Scriptures and to preaching and teaching.

14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift that is in you, which was given to you when the prophets spoke and the elders laid their hands on you.

15 Practice these things and devote yourself to them, in order that your progress may be seen by all.

16 Watch yourself and watch your teaching. Keep on doing these things, because if you do, you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

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Responsibilities toward Believers

1 Do not rebuke an older man, but appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat the younger men as your brothers,

2 the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, with all purity.

3 Show respect for widows who really are all alone.

4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, they should learn first to carry out their religious duties toward their own family and in this way repay their parents and grandparents, because that is what pleases God.

5 A widow who is all alone, with no one to take care of her, has placed her hope in God and continues to pray and ask him for his help night and day.

6 But a widow who gives herself to pleasure has already died, even though she lives.

7 Give them these instructions, so that no one will find fault with them.

8 But if any do not take care of their relatives, especially the members of their own family, they have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever.

9 Do not add any widow to the list of widows unless she is over sixty years of age. In addition, she must have been married only once

10 and have a reputation for good deeds: a woman who brought up her children well, received strangers in her home, performed humble duties for other Christians, helped people in trouble, and devoted herself to doing good.

11 But do not include younger widows in the list; because when their desires make them want to marry, they turn away from Christ,

12 and so become guilty of breaking their earlier promise to him.

13 They also learn to waste their time in going around from house to house; but even worse, they learn to be gossips and busybodies, talking of things they should not.

14 So I would prefer that the younger widows get married, have children, and take care of their homes, so as to give our enemies no chance of speaking evil of us.

15 For some widows have already turned away to follow Satan.

16 But if any Christian woman has widows in her family, she must take care of them and not put the burden on the church, so that it may take care of the widows who are all alone.

17 The elders who do good work as leaders should be considered worthy of receiving double pay, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

18 For the scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox when you are using it to thresh grain” and “Workers should be given their pay.”

19 Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or more witnesses.

20 Rebuke publicly all those who commit sins, so that the rest may be afraid.

21 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the holy angels I solemnly call upon you to obey these instructions without showing any prejudice or favor to anyone in anything you do.

22 Be in no hurry to lay hands on people to dedicate them to the Lord’s service. Take no part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.

23 Do not drink water only, but take a little wine to help your digestion, since you are sick so often.

24 The sins of some people are plain to see, and their sins go ahead of them to judgment; but the sins of others are seen only later.

25 In the same way good deeds are plainly seen, and even those that are not so plain cannot be hidden.

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